Irene has a lot more she wants to say, but her mom is right on one thing... she was surronded by a lot of cultists at the moment and had to make it out safe. "You said we have all the time soon... I believe you. My questions can wait till we're safe".

Uncomfortable with Her mother leaning down like she was a small child Irene tries to help her to her feet. With a glance at Echo Irene asks "Where do we need to go, and what do you want to tell me?"

After the fight is over, Bruce looks suspiciously at Koa and the woman with the staff. He seems to be a little too eager to play nice with her. And of course, he's inviting more friends. Bruce rolls his eyes at himself internally. He half-thought that Irene has finally realized how dumb Dave was and wanted a real date. Well, guess not. And now, she seems to have ran away with the psychic thing during the battle. Just great.

Bruce starts to walk towards Koa and the summoner, keeping his guard up. And plans of self-preservation disappeared when Koa released Kinhe. His eyes widen in surprise, instantly recognizing it's typing, even though he hasn't seen it before. He watches intently as Kinhe probes Koa's mind. After Kinhe is done, Bruce walks up close and reaches a hand out before looking to Koa for permission to touch. If granted, Bruce will carefully touch and examine Kinhe, focusing on the bell, the tentacles, and trying to get a look under the hood. When finished with his examination, he'll turn to Koa. That's a nasty little thing. Where'd you get her?

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

As Kinhe senses something when Bruce approaches, Koa feels it through her, and the two turn to face him almost simultaneously. There was something about this guy, something... corrosive? Acidic? Deleterious, but not in a bad way, necessarily. Rather, it was just a natural part of who he was as a person, and it was that part that Kinhe could feel a certain kinship with, similar to how she felt a bond towards the down-to-Earth Koa.

It was for this reason that, despite his furrowed brow, he nods after a couple moments of consideration. "Not the tentacles," he says, reaching a hand in front of Bruce's to stop both him and Kinhe, who was just as ready to grasp Bruce's hand. "Not with me in her head anyway. Let's respect each others' privacy, yeah?"

"That's a nasty little thing. Where'd you get her?"

"Oh I think you know. She came from the same place yours came from. What kind is it anyway? Not the same as Kinhe?"

Bruce just nods as Koa warns him off the tentacles, a little disappointed. That's where all the poison comes from. That's the fun bit! He seems puzzled how this poison type... pokemon? Can have psychic qualities.

"Oh I think you know. She came from the same place yours came from. What kind is it anyway? Not the same as Kinhe?"

At this, Bruce figures it's time to release Tops. He keeps an eye on the summoner and Tops' pokeball in his hands as he does.

You seem to think I know a whole lot more than I actually do. He came from the Sky, and seems to pump out some kind of sticky poison. I call it a Poipole, and his name is Tops. That's all I know.

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

Koa observes the small floating alien, not recognizing it from his big battle with the Overseer. Was it simply too small and non-threatening to use in that battle? Koa winces a bit when he notices how beat up it is. Even if it's only a little bruised, that's more than Koa would feel comfortable with if it were Kinhe.

Koa gives Bruce a discerning look. "Really? You just... caught him, after he came here? No fuss from his dad, no giant claw coming out of a hole in the sky? Ha, well that explains why these guys are after you. They probably think you're the one who stole him, like they're rescuing him or something."

"You really don't know about that Overseer guy? Or his... followers," Koa says, purposely avoiding the word 'cult' in front of the Summoner.

► Show Spoiler

I'll leave interaction between Kinhe and Tops to Mort. I don't want to assume they'll recognize each other, or even react to each other at all.

Well, he flew out of the sky, there was this weird hole thing, but I didn't see any claws or anything coming out of it. Just Tops. He flew up to me, I chucked a pokeball at him, and then he was mine. Everything else I know is what I've learned about his kind since then.

"You really don't know about that Overseer guy? Or his... followers,"

Assuming you're talking about the Red Hand, who just attacked us, I know about them. They're a nasty group, and I'd love to destroy that tower of theirs someday.

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

Koa shakes his head. "No, those Red Hand guys are just one group. There's a second group called the Sons of Aether, and from what that masked guy said, I'm guessing they're the ones calling the shots. I guess they use the Red Hand to do the dirty jobs, keep their own names clean?" Koa hypothesizes, giving a questioning glance to the Summoner.

"As for the Overseer... well you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you what his deal is. He's Tops' and Kinhe's dad, and suffice it to say, he's a real scary guy," Koa explains, with massive understatement. "You should probably be a lot more careful with Tops, yeah? I mean I don't think his dad'll rip a hole in the sky and squash you, but... well he could."

Its hard to believe the Red Hand would let anybody tell them what to do, but I suppose anything is possible.

Be more careful with him? What, because he's a little beat up? That's from your friend, you know. And anyway, so what? He's a pokemon, or at least something so close to a pokemon that you can't tell the difference. And pokemon are made to fight. Half of them do it for fun! He's tough enough to handle a little fight.

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

Well, I don't really know. Iris, er... Irene, messaged me that she wanted to meet up to talk about Tops. And then you showed up. And then the Red Hand showed up. And then, well... Bruce motions randomly in the air to signify all the craziness that just happened.

But I guess, who are you, how do you know Irene, who is this overseer guy? Who are the sons of Aether? And... Bruce squints at Koa. didn't I see you fighting a giant ghost thing at some tournament, like a week ago?

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

Drake should have 20 speed due to his rainbow gem adding +5 to speed.
Drake will swing his wand towards the largest group of hostiles as possible, without targeting friends and use arcane storm (burst 3 range 12).

Ghos follows up the attack with a shadow ball and spite targeted at the Kirlia

"Heh, I meant questions for her, actually," Koa says, pointing a thumb at the Summoner.

"But yeah, I'm Koa. I guess I was on TV at the Isosceles tournament a little while ago. I won the Novice bracket, but I dunno how many people were paying attention to those. I know Irene 'cause we all because official trainers at the same time, and we've just kinda stuck together. Well... there's a little more to it than that, but I don't think I wanna say too much given current company, yeah?"

"As for the Overseer... hoo boy. He's like an alien god, or something like that? Which sounds crazy, I know, but these Sons of Aether guys still worship him like one - his kids, too, I think. I'll ask Kinhe to show you, but later, okay?"

Bruce waits till Koa gives him a basic idea of who he is before even focusing on the summoner. When he does, the first thing he does is pull her hood back.

Who are you? How did you know I was going to be here? How does your staff work? Where is Irene?

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

Bjorn's nerves get the better of him. He sprints out to get his shoe, spraying ice in front to make the floor slippery and once retrieved, high-tails it out of there, hoping that whatever malignant presence is there may skid trying to chase him.

Diving back towards the Collector and Mr Suspicious, Kay unleashes another (horribly inaccurate) Air Cutter at the two of them. Which Izzy follows up with an Air Cutter of her own. That is just as horribly inaccurate.

Haley begins collecting some more of the spider silk, which is... Difficult, still. But, her survival skills are in fact enough to manage to pick out the pieces of webbing that are least likely to disturb the spiders and, in turn, end up with her possibly getting attacked... It does mean she doesn't make any progress towards that idol for now, though, or at least very little- The webs near the opening seem too actively maintained for her to try and grab the silk from there, but she can grab some of the walls... And manages to spin it in a short rope. It's sturdy enough to last a couple uses, but probably not much longer than that- Mostly because it's eventually all going to end up sticking to each other and clumping together into a mess...

Alex

"It was interesting, to say the least, mostly thanks to your assistant and the... "Demon." I'll have to work out how you managed that some day, it wasn't just an illusion or it wouldn't have been able to get hold of that idol, and a pokemon which can use illusions and telekinesis... I can't think of any, at least..."

"I'll leave you to brainstorm on that one. It probably isn't quite as hard as you think it is..."

"Well, your assistant has probably already told you that I didn't exactly get the full experience, so I may have to visit again if I ever work out how to stop seeing auras. It's strange, I never expected a place could have so much aura. There must be something to cause that, but I couldn't guess at what."

"Hmm. A story for another day, maybe." Jack replies, shrugging... Seems he's not intent on giving that kind of info for no reason.

"Well, I guess you could say that even though I didn't get to experience it the way you planned, it was still intriguing."

"Glad to hear you still enjoyed it despite the flaws. Now... I suppose it's time for the battle, isn't it?"

"It's a pretty standard battle... One exception- We'll be doing it in a dimmed room. Not complete darkness... But dark enough that unless your pokemon has darkvision, or a light source, it's going to have issues. The idols you found will allow you two uses of the lights, though- Which you can either use to put on a dim light for three turns... Or have the lights flash to blind any pokemon with darkvision for one. That make sense?"

(Let know what your first pokemon is gonna be...)

Koa, Bruce

As the commander looks to make his escape, albeit slowed down by the spikes... He finds his exit quickly brought to an end as he gets mercilessly ganged up by different sources- And, needless to say, finds his escape brought to an unceremional halt... Leaving just one target to interrogate.

"I've only known this guy as long as you have, actually. But I know the Big Guy wouldn't be happy if one of his kids got stolen, yeah? It's not like I'd sit by and let that happen."
"Well... The mistress said we should take it, so I assumed... Well, I didn't really question why, but..." she shakes her head, clearly having issues of making sense of things herself... But given little time to actually consider it, as there were a LOT of questions headed her way.

"Not until you answer some questions... and you help me find my friend. That psychic could teleport around, yeah? Well we were standing in the only way outta here, so that means they teleported somewhere. You're gonna help me figure out where they went. You cooperate with me, and I'll see if Jack will go easy on ya. Let's take a step inside..."

"P-Please don't get Jack involved..! I don't wanna..." she shakes, but begrudgingly obliges to follow Koa... Although stopping him from picking up the staff.

"I wouldn't touch that staff. You're not... Authorized, I guess, to use it. I'm not sure what'll happen if you do..."

"As for your friend, I'm... Pretty sure where she is. But I can't tell you. I mean, not that I don't WANT to tell you, but in that I can't... Or rather, I could, but it would like..." she pauses, seeming to struggle for a moment about how to best express it... Before asking a question herself.

"Have you... Ever heard about the concept of an 'anti-meme'..?"

A brief moment is taken to alert Jack and Izzy, but both don't seem to respond... Hopefully because they don't want to waste any time replying, and not because they haven't noticed while being preoccupied- And another moment is taken to make sure the shopkeepers are okay which, luckily, they are... One of the shopkeepers actually arrives with a shotgun, like, a whole minute too late to the party. He's obviously pretty pissed about the wall... But seems willing to take it out on the red hand mostly.

"Bloody hooligans... We'll have Angstrom pay for em by the head, to pay for the damage..!" he states- Not seeming to care too much about what Koa might think about that for now, shouting a couple things at his co-worker in a foreign language- He'd return with some rope a couple minutes later...

Following that, Koa goes for a quick introduction... Showing off his own ultra beast, much to the summoner's delight.

"Ah... So it really IS you..."

Koa's got ulterior motives for releasing the Nihilego besides introductions, though- Just... Ever so slightly having the suspicion that something was off about the psychic woman he saw earlier. And Kinhe, for her part at least, seems to confirm that suspicion.

"Ooh, something did tamper with master's memories... Something POWERFUL- But... That's all I can say..."

Following that, Koa and Bruce get to talking, Bruce now also releasing Tops for the two poison types to interact... But besides feeling a certain amount of kinship, in one manner or another, they stay... Mostly distant. Besides Tops, that is, but that one appears like it's just a naturally curious type. Besides that, though, conversation between the two just continues... The summoner just awkwardly sitting on the side, and interjecting a couple times-

Really? You just... caught him, after he came here? No fuss from his dad, no giant claw coming out of a hole in the sky? Ha, well that explains why these guys are after you. They probably think you're the one who stole him, like they're rescuing him or something.""That's what I thought, at least..."

"No, those Red Hand guys are just one group. There's a second group called the Sons of Aether, and from what that masked guy said, I'm guessing they're the ones calling the shots. I guess they use the Red Hand to do the dirty jobs, keep their own names clean?"

"No! I mean... Not usually... I'd say it's more the other way around usually but... In the simplest terms, we just both had something the others wanted... It's not like I WANT to work for them..!"

"As for the Overseer... hoo boy. He's like an alien god, or something like that? Which sounds crazy, I know, but these Sons of Aether guys still worship him like one - his kids, too, I think. I'll ask Kinhe to show you, but later, okay?"

"He IS a god..! You've seen it in the flesh, haven't you..? You should realize that more than anyone else! If Arceus made this one shitty world, and he made THOUSANDS... Then what DOES that make him?!" suddenly jabs up, rather... Fanatically. Bruce tones her down a bit again as he tears down the hood, eliciting an "eep" from the girl as her face is actually revealed... Revealing a rather pale complexion, joined with long, if somewhat unkempt dark-brown hair.

Who are you? How did you know I was going to be here? How does your staff work? Where is Irene?

"Ah... I'm Garnet- I knew you were going to be here, because that's what the mistress, the oracle predicted... But she also told me this was going to be a cakewalk, so I guess not all her predictions are true after all. Well, either that, or..." she speaks, trailing off for moment.

"As for how the staff works, I just... I only know that it's linked to... Again, let me ask you something first- HAVE you heard about the concept of anti-meme..?"

► Show Spoiler

Just a general note on psychic residue- A psychic (or, Kinhe) can detect whether a person has recently been hit by some kind of psychic interference, and potentially even figure out what exactly... But memories of a non-psychic user do not contain this psychic residue, so the pokemon in question would actually need to see the creature in question to be able to tell who it belonged to.

Also remind me to actually distribute exp once Irene is back.

Irene

"You said we have all the time soon... I believe you. My questions can wait till we're safe"

The woman shakes her head slightly, a small smile pursed on her lips. "Oh, honey... You ARE safe. Much as I wanted to see you again... I wouldn't have brought you here if you weren't." she replies- Irene trying to get up, sharing a glance to "Echo" who seems to shake it's head after a very short amount of deliberation in response... Although Gayle gently pushes her back down.

"Where do we need to go, and what do you want to tell me?"

"We don't need to go anywhere. As for what I want to say... If you can wait until not long from now with all those questions, there's one or two more things I can say as well."

"It's just... I want you to know, for sure, that if I could have made it so that it was anyone else but me to do this, or if I could have kept you out of being pulled into this... I would have done it. But the truth is, that while my predictions of the future have given me names such as the great oracle, or even fateweaver... In truth, I often feel so, so powerless in the grand scheme of things... What's the point of predicting the future, after all, if I see only a handful of paths that end well..? And if all of them force me to be here, and you to be out there..?"

"In the same vein, I really wish I could just tell you... Everything. Exactly what you need to do to make sure everything ends up as it needs to be, or at least, the best possible outcome. But I can't... Fate's got a penchant that if you try to cheat it too much, well... It tends to backfire. That's why your friend in the sky doesn't just constantly intervene with bits of information that'd help you, you know- It knows, too." she pauses for a moment, just chuckling lightly for a second at how... Funny, it all was.

"But the most important thing for you to know is... It all ends tonight. And I'll need you, your friends... To play their part. That's... All there is, really. I've little doubt you'd have done just that even without me interfering, but... Well, then I wouldn't get the chance to hug you before it all starts, right..?"

"Just... Remember that I'm not your enemy. But treat me as one for the night, if you think you have to- At least the ones that call themselves the red hand... Do... Do what you think is right- And remember, that nothing is what it appears to be..."

"Now..." she paused, turning to the unconscious Matthias- Giving him a light shove with her foot, the man waking up with a start... Although before his puzzled expression can turn to one of realization and fixate upon Irene, he finds himself commanded by the oracle- Who spares just a few words before she'd turn back to Irene.

"Deal with Angstrom. Ten seconds."

Matthias appears disoriented for a second, but then grins, and nods as he strides out to the center of the room... While Irene's mother gently guided her daughter closer to the wall, gesturing for her to keep quiet.

"Quiet, now... Start messaging your friend- Tell him to get working on reactivating the staff..." she ushers... Not ten seconds later the sound of a door being, by the sounds of it, kicked open- Albeit followed by slow, but heavy footsteps coming through.

"Ah... Master Angstrom! Or, should I say, master-"

"Who ordered some of my men on an assault just now."

There seems to be awkward shuffling from Matthias, the man in question visible from Irene's perspective... Although this "Angstrom" is hidden off to the side, beyond the wall corner. Matthias eventual reply rather... Awkwardly.

"Ah, yes, that was... Me."

"..."

"You are a terrible liar."

"But if you are so keen on taking the fall, I'll deal with HER later." there came a reply- Matthias soon finding himself in a rather precocious position as he was lifted several feet off the ground by an unknown force...

Izzy, Drake

The dancer continues her dance, reaching... Well, pretty ridiculous speed, while also releasing a sunflora. Who cares when it's not matched by firepower, though..? Which Kay demonstrates, swooping down on the shifty guy and the collector..! However, the mysterious guy stands ready with his shield, and deflects off the blow- Including the one Kay was trying to target at the much slower collector, who's getting pretty peeved at this point.

"Enough of this- Get that bat out of the sky!"

Izzy tries to join with the attack, but fails to hit in an even more spectacular fashion... Where Izzy fails, though, Drake tries to pick up the slack- Moving around the exterior side of the arena until he's just barely in range, flinging a magical bolt... That explodes in a storm to hit all of them! If for not that much damage...

"Gah..! You're supposed to protect me..!"

"I am, boss- Can't keep intercepting if I go down, though."

Ghos meanwhile, spites the kirlia, disabling the confusion attack... Before striking with a shadow ball! Making the spite feel rather useless, as it ends up being an instant KO.

The suspicious dude meanwhile, recognizing the continued assault, simply preps- raising his defenses.

The musician moves up- Blasting deafening music over Max!

Isabella, more cautious than usual part, just hangs back as far as possible while continuing to command her pokemon, intent on having Grin be the one to act this time...

Seems like it wasn't meant to be, though, as the loudred ends up knocking it out..! And in turn, she just quickly commands Max instead- Taking revenge on the loudred with a fire fang..!

Betty meanwhile, pummels the dragonair one more time... Before disengaging it- Seeming to hope that's enough of a "lesson" for it. Her eyes darting back to Isabella...

Next up, though, is the pupitar and clauncher who take the attack the bat order seriously... The clauncher splashing up, before shooting a bubblebeam for 33(11) damage... While the collector has slightly bigger guns- A rock slide fired up that hit both Izzy and Kay for 42(37) and 42(64) damage, Kay being brought down to almost critical health..!

Atom meanwhile, returns focus to the lairon... Continuing to build momentum as he tries another brick break..! Jeremy gives him the order to expend momentum though, usual attack turned into a more devastating haymaker punch... Finally breaking through it's defences enough to knock it out..!

Instead, the bronzong gets to act... And promptly decides to put the metagross to sleep.

Finally, the sunflora acts...Deciding to exploit the fact Atom just got put to sleep, to hit it with leeching seeds.

I really need to get better at making actual maps... The only problem with that is that it makes updating a lot more time intensive for me and I can't really do it between work... Although it might be argued the time I spend debating "How many would they be able to hit" outweighs the actual time I would have spent on the map.

Also, duelist OP

Bjorn

Bjorn... Panics. But, of course, not wanting to leave behind his shoe, he quickly darts forward, albeit spraying ice off to the side to hopefully slip anything that would chase him... Before immediately hightailing it without even properly looking. Oh, but now it was certain there was SOMETHING there... As it let's out a loud screech, and for the briefest moment he can swear it swiped after him..!

However... It doesn't seem to chase. Or at the very least, it doesn't chase enough for him to seemingly shake it after a couple turns, as he escapes... Or at least, he thinks he's escaped. So... What now?

"Ooh, something did tamper with Koa's memories... Something POWERFUL- But... That is all we can say..."

"Hmm... thanks Kinhe," Koa says, suppressing a rising anger at having his head messed with in favor of gratitude, rewarding Kinhe through their mind-link and physically patting her on her bell.

He levels his gaze back onto the Summoner - Garnet, apparently was her name. "Kinhe tells me that psychic did mess with my memory. You're gonna tell me what she changed, yeah?"

"As for how the staff works, I just... I only know that it's linked to... Again, let me ask you something first- HAVE you heard about the concept of an anti-meme..?"

"No, but why don't you tell us? You said it's keeping you from telling us what we wanna know? That sure is convenient, huh?"

"But if this staff's dangerous or something, then I should put it somewhere safe so no one ends up grabbing it...."

With that said, Koa takes his crowbar out of his pack and approaches the staff still lying on the ground. Using it and his sheathed sword as a set of makeshift tongs, hooking the head of the staff between the two, Koa lifts the staff and takes it into the warehouse. Once around the corner and deeper into the building he, after making sure no one can see him, takes out his storage ball and absorbs the staff with it.

As the rocks fly at them, Izzy winces in pain and tries to cover her eyes. Kay looks much worse for wear though, the seeds leeching out the last of her strength before she can react! As they drop to the ground, Izzy recalls the unconscious bat and leaps onto the nearby platform, hoping nobody noticed how slow she was falling.

She then releases Maku between her and the platform's edge, before pulling out her guitar and playing a soft lullaby. The sweet tune is enough to make everyone within range dozy, while buffing her and Maku's defences!

Not sure how many I can fit inside the range of the Sing, but the Collector and Mr Suspicious are priority targets. Then the Pawniard if I can position myself to get him too. Shouldn't be too hard, since Burst 2 is actually surprisingly big.

Maku then waits to act, observing the battle with a zen-like patience...

If something attacks Izzy:

Acting immediately, the gentle giant carefully intercepts the attack, absorbing it with his thick skin.

If something attacks him, but not Izzy:

Weathering the blows, Maku tries not to let them interrupt his meditation. At Izzy's command, he sends a Gust of air at the Collector. Unless the attacks broke his zen by putting him below 50%, in which case he'll smack the Collector in the face with an Aerial Ace instead.

Seeing no immediate danger, Maku decides it's time to break his own zen. Raising his arms, he brings his great palms down on his belly, beating out a rhythm of war. His muscles seem to bulge and grow larger with each strike, a fire rising in his eyes...

-- Belly Drum: Lose 50% Hp, gain +6 ATK CS

► Show Spoiler

Izzy only got 1 injury from the Rock Slide, from dropping below 50%. Massive damage is 40+ on her now. I fixed it on her sheet - assuming she already had 1 Injury from earlier? I can't really remember...

Also, in case it isn't clear - Maku is delaying his action until after literally everything else has acted.

My characters:
Tugs Tails, the goblin that was sort of a trapper and wears a bear's tail at his neck, for some reason - Lair of the Mountain King (Run by Thinks)
Alex Sparo, A city boy, poor of sight, who has learned to manipulate people and make the most of what he, and others, have - Trinity Isles (Run by Mort)
Mehriv Turajin, a Noble Dragonborn Sorcerer sent from his clan because he wasn't dragony enough. - The Wandering Archipelago (Run by Thinks)

For once Bruce agrees with the summoner. Maybe it would be better to not get Jack involved if possible. Things like this were always better dealt with without getting officials involved.

What is an anti-meme?

Bruce eyes the staff warily, as if it will jump up and bite him any second before Koa clumsily takes it away.

And What is your deal with the Red Hand?

Thanks to Arch Lich Burns for the avatar, and Mnementh for the mustache.

Ã”Ã‡Â£Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there'll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?Ã”Ã‡Ã˜
Ã”Ã‡Ã² Terry Pratchett

But I can't... Fate's got a penchant that if you try to cheat it too much, well... It tends to backfire. That's why your friend in the sky doesn't just constantly intervene with bits of information that'd help you, you know- It knows, too.""You know, I can't remember a tale where cheating fate did work, but plenty that faced fate head on and managed to shift it... I may not know what you do, but I believe that we can shift things towards a brighter future, It's hard no denying, but life hasn't really been easy either"

"But the most important thing for you to know is... It all ends tonight. And I'll need you, your friends... To play their part. That's... All there is, really. I've little doubt you'd have done just that even without me interfering, but... Well, then I wouldn't get the chance to hug you before it all starts, right..?"
Irene blinks a few times before responding, wait, wait what's all? Cause between Arceus, Giritina, Over seer, and Grimm all getting resolved tonight I know I just said things would be hard, but isn't that a little too much?

"Just... Remember that I'm not your enemy. But treat me as one for the night, if you think you have to- At least the ones that call themselves the red hand... Do... Do what you think is right- And remember, that nothing is what it appears to be..."

"Now..."... Don't worry, by following my heart I did run into you... even if I did hurt some people along my way, I'll do what I believe is best!

"Quiet, now... Start messaging your friend- Tell him to get working on reactivating the staff..." Irene nods, though she doesn't quite follow her mother's orders to a t. Pulling her dex out she whispersShock, can you hear me? It seems I'll be dealing with the Overseer tonight, would you mind informing Koa out with the staff, and letting him know I'm ok? The price being having to deal with this long before I feel ready?
If Shock deciedes to be helpful Irene happily puts her phone away to elimante the glow. If Shock asks for anything more she rolls her eyes and texts Koa herself.

There seems to be awkward shuffling from Matthias, the man in question visible from Irene's perspective... Although this "Angstrom" is hidden off to the side, beyond the wall corner. Matthias eventual reply rather... Awkwardly.

Resisting the urge to peek Irene pulls back. She knows her hiding skills were extremely sub-par at best... though things changed quickly

Matthias soon finding himself in a rather precocious position as he was lifted several feet off the ground by an unknown force...

... you just said to do what I believe is right... and while annoying he isn't bad. Bringing out Shock Irene suddenly hesitates, Matthias recgonized that her by her family features... this guy would too.

Shock, sneak in and Nuzzle that guy when you can. I'll figure out how we both can escape from here, somehow

where are you? staff? summon girl told me not to touch it. said it was anti meme?

After a moment, it something occurs to Koa. Why not ask the Spark? If it feels like helping, but it's usually been forthcoming so far.

"Spark, you're there, right?" Koa says, after making double sure no one can see him in the warehouse. "Is that really Irene? What's going on? She's telling me to turn on this staff or something, but the other girl said something bad might happen if I grabbed it? What's the staff even do, do ya know?"